Apple and Ericsson sue each other over wireless patent licensing

Apple has gotten involved in yet another lawsuit. This time, its with Ericsson, which the company claims is demanding "excessive royalties" for the patents it holds for LTE wireless technology.

According to Reuters, Apple says that Ericsson is trying to gain royalties based on the price of an entire smartphone or tablet, but Apple thinks it should only pay based on the price of the processor inside. It quotes a company spokesperson as saying:

We've always been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights to standards essential patents covering technology in our products. Unfortunately, we have not been able to agree with Ericsson on a fair rate for their patents so, as a last resort, we are asking the courts for help.

Today, Ericsson filed its own lawsuit against Apple, claiming it has tried and failed to work out a new license agreement with Apple for two years. Reuters quotes an Ericsson spokesperson as saying:

We have been trying to negotiate a new agreement. We came to the conclusion we needed the help of a third party.

If a court does make a decision in this case in favor of Ericsson, Apple could be forced to pay as much as $750 million a year to continue to use its wireless patents.